


Day One: Bella & Edward

by claryherondale



Category: Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Immortality, No Smut, One Shot, Romance, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-09-03 16:25:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8720644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/claryherondale/pseuds/claryherondale
Summary: Day 1 of My 31 Favorite ShipsMany years after the end of Breaking Dawn, Bella is mourning over the death of her father. Alice and Carlisle work to cheer her up, but it's ultimately her husband bringing her to the meadow and presenting her with a gift that allows her to remember how beautiful her life is.





	

**Author's Note:**

> To count down to the New Year, I will be doing 31 days of my favorite ships: one shots filled with fluff and/or smut (this one does not contain any smut). I read Twilight when I was 12, which was 7 years ago, so Bellward will always hold a special place in my heart. Although they are not among the top of my favorite ships, considering those will be closer to Day 31, they definitely still make the list.
> 
> Enjoy!

I watched Edward carefully, his back turned to me as he lithely scrawled sharp words across a sheet of cream paper. His hair was copper brown and tousled, like a human boy who hadn’t gotten any sleep—though, of course, we never slept. His coat was shrugged off, lain carefully over the back of the chair next to him. The rest of his clothing was nice and unwrinkled, and I knew he understood just how broken my heart was.

Charlie was dead. His funeral had been yesterday, and we hadn’t been able to go, as our lack of aging was an obvious mark of our vampire status. But even still, all of us dressed nicely and visited the place he was buried afterwards. I was older now—much older, even if I didn’t appear it—and I understood death better. Now that I actually was dead and had watched so many of the people from my human life age and die.

I had known it was coming. He had been bedridden for quite some time. I was more equipped to handle it than I would have been when I was a newborn vampire. But that didn’t erase my sadness over it entirely. I was mourning not only for the father that had taken me in and given me the life that ultimately led to me becoming a Cullen, but for the human life that was long gone from me now.

I didn’t regret my decisions, not at all. I had a loving husband, a wonderful family, and a beautiful daughter—even if she looked slightly older than me now. But it was a stitch of nostalgia in the fabric of my life, the blurry human memories that became less clear every day.

Charlie was gone. He was in a better place. It didn’t, however, mean that I wouldn’t miss him. I would miss him for the rest of eternity.

I had just come from talking to Carlisle. After we visited Charlie’s gravesite, Alice had taken me away from Edward, Renesemee, and everyone else and had just let me tearlessly cry against her shoulder for hours. Aside from me and Renesemee, Alice was the closest one to Charlie out of everyone in the family. She understood my grief the best, because she was feeling it too. Renesemee had Jacob to comfort her, and of course I had Edward, but sometimes I needed to be alone with my sister-in-law.

This was one of those times. Alice wrapped me in her arms. She had prepared me for this, as she had seen in one of her visions that Charlie was about to pass. So we had the chance to say goodbye to him. We got closure. That made things easier.

After I had spent a few hours with Alice, Carlisle had come and knocked on her bedroom door and asked if he could talk to me. 

So I went with Carlisle into the empty living room. I guessed he had asked everyone to disperse so he could have a moment alone with me. We sat side by side on the couch, and he gently rested his hand on mine. For a moment, I was reminded of when his touch would have been like ice on my skin, but now we were the same temperature.

“Bella,” he had started, “you know that, since Edward brought you into this home, you have been like a daughter to me—just as much as Alice and Rosalie.”

I smiled slightly. “I doubt it was the moment he brought me here.”

“Believe me, Bella, it was. I could tell that he couldn’t live without you, even then. I know my son well, and I saw in you what I had tried to give him with Rosalie. You were a part of our family long before your wedding. You have gifted us with so much.”

“I’ve also caused you a lot of trouble.”

“It’s been worth it.” And there was sincerity in Carlisle’s voice. “You’ve risked yourself and your life to help save us. Not only that, but you have expanded our family—with Renesemee and Jacob. And Charlie. We cannot be more thankful to you for that.”

“Carlisle, you know it has been selfish of me. I love Edward, and I love all of you. I needed you way more than you have ever needed me.” My voice cracked, even though I couldn’t cry.

“Bella, look at me,” Carlisle said. I did. “You have completed us. You are an integral part of this family, and I don’t ever want you to think otherwise. I asked to talk to you because I want you to know that we are your family. That you will always be a part of this family. And we love you deeply. We couldn’t imagine life without you. We will all help you shoulder this grief. You do not have to suffer this alone. Anything you need, we’re here. You are my daughter, Isabella Cullen. And none of us are going anywhere.”

We hugged after that, and Carlisle kissed my forehead tenderly. I knew Esme was somewhere in the house, compiling photographs of Charlie with all of us, to give to me when I was ready.

So, here I was. Standing, watching my husband quickly write with stark flicks of his wrist. I had walked up to the open doorway of the study with soundless footsteps, and Edward hadn’t noticed me yet. I wondered what he was writing. I shifted slightly, leaning against the doorframe, making a slight noise so he would know I was there.

Immediately, Edward set the pen down and moved over to me—with speed that, as a human, I would have been unable to register. He gently folded me in his arms and rested his forehead against the top of my head.

“Bella, how are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m okay,” I said truthfully. Despite the fact that I had spent an immeasurable amount of time reading—and, thus, gaining an expansive vocabulary—there seemed no better a word to describe my emotions at the moment. “What were you writing?”

He brushed off my question. “I was wondering—do you want to go to the meadow with me?”

“Now?” I asked.

“Only if you’re up for it,” Edward told me. “We don’t have to.”

“No—actually, that sounds nice.”

We both still had some clothes here, despite the fact that our cottage wasn’t far away, especially considering our speed. So, we took off all of our clothing that symbolized grief and redressed in more casual attire. Although Alice wouldn’t quite let me get away with the ratty jeans and plain T-shirts that I wore as a human. I had adjusted to the new style enough that it would only occasionally garner an eye roll from me now.

Edward and I decided to drive to Forks High School and park in the empty lot there, considering it was a weekend and so school wasn’t in session. It was drizzling lightly, but the cement was still fairly wet as we walked up across the damp, grassy hill and toward the nearby forest.

I smiled just slightly, human memories flooding my mind. As soon as we hit the tree line, Edward took my hand in his and we began sprinting. We made it to the meadow quickly, high enough to be above the fogginess so that it was only cloudy and muted, not dulled altogether.

The meadow was in full bloom: an array of flowers were dotted across the grass. We sat in the clearing between the trees, watching everything around us sway with a slight breeze. I was thankful to Edward for bringing me here. This was an undeniable reminder of everything I still had in my life—the past that had led to this moment, where things were, despite the circumstances, good. Charlie had lived a long and beautiful life. It was okay to mourn him, but it was also important to remember everything good that still surrounded me. And there was a lot.

“Bella, you know that I love you, don’t you?” asked Edward.

“And I love you,” I said.

He looked into my eyes, his golden and smothering. Warm. Always warm. They were my home. I could tell he was carefully assessing my mood—considering he couldn’t read my mind except when I allowed it, he had learned to sort of read the thoughts through my eyes. No one was better at doing this, except Jasper, but that was only because of his ability to know what I was feeling.

Edward kissed me, our mouths parting against one another. Where my lips once conformed to his, they now held their own, our souls—which Edward had begun to believe were still there after I was turned—intertwining momentarily. They breathed into one another, and it was electric and warm. 

After a moment, I parted from him, just slightly, and teasingly whispered, “Is this what you brought me here for?”

Edward smiled, all of his features lighting up at the sound of the playfulness in my voice. 

“No,” he said. “I actually wanted to show you what I was writing.”

“Oh?” I murmured curiously.

He took the piece of paper out of his pocket and swiftly unfolded the perfect creases, handing it over to me. I examined it carefully, the dark, elegant script and the softness of the cream colored paper. Before I read it, I looked up at Edward.

“A poem?” I asked.

“Yes,” Edward said. “I’m better with music than I am with the written word, but I wanted something more tangible than that for you, at least right now. You’re mine, Bella. Always. And I intend to keep you happy and safe. As long as that’s alright with you.”

“Always,” I repeated.

“Always,” he confirmed.

I looked back down at the paper in my pale hands, reading it carefully:

“Summer in Forks”  
—to my dearest Bella

I never thought that I could enjoy summer in Washington,  
When the rain was always pounding against the roof,  
Bleeding into the gutters  
Like the blood in the veins of humans  
That I had to avoid.

I never thought that it could be so easy  
To be so close to someone alive without wanting to be a monster,  
Without wanting to drink her blood.  
But there you were just standing there,  
Watching me with brown eyes now reflected in our daughter.

But now the summers are warm,  
Full of life and loveliness even when it rains so hard it pours.  
Because you are standing here next to me,  
And you are my family and my heart.  
I could never miss the springtime. 

Not when you landed in that plane so long ago  
In this season indiscernible in Washington from the rest.  
There is so much I have to say to you,  
But all I can say is the most beautiful word I know:  
Bella.

**Author's Note:**

> Day 2 will also be a Twilight ship, but Day 3 will center around a ship from a completely different series. Most of the ships are interspersed across a wide variety of fandoms, so stay tuned!


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